Hamilton feared crash with Vettel and Verstappen

The Vettel-Verstappen crash at the Chinese Grand Prix has grabbed all the headlines, as it compromised the races of two drivers and almost ended the race of a few others who were on Verstappen’s tail.

Hamilton was one of those drivers, but he somehow managed to get on the outside and avoid the cars. After the race, Hamilton admitted to being worried about hitting one of those cars.

“I was definitely worried of catching [crashing into] them, especially as they were trying to turn around, so I thought I might get caught there,” said Hamilton.

“But anyway, I got through safely. I came towards the apex and I saw them both facing me.

“So I was like, ‘I can’t do the tighter turn that Kimi had done’, so I had to go left.” he added.

Hamilton was also quick to take a dig at Verstappen for having tried that audacious overtake on Turn 7, that forced the Red Bull driver off the race track.

“Turn 8’s a little bit more possible [to overtake at], but there’s actually a dirty line on the outside of Turn 7,” the Brit said.

“It’s a very fast, long corner. “I don’t think any top driver has ever been taken on the outside there before. I didn’t even see him there, I was doing the corner normally.

“When I watch the replay, I don’t really understand what he was up to there, but it wasn’t a problem for me.

“And yeah, naturally [I’m] thankful for the way he drives, because that meant we didn’t lose too many points today.” he added.

Hamilton was surprised by Red Bull’s pace after the safety car was deployed.

“I don’t know if anyone was expecting them to be as quick as they were, after the safety car I stayed out.

“Initially I was like ‘okay this is good, I’m now right behind Seb, and maybe I have a chance, maybe there’s a little bit of battle we can have to the end’.

“And I looked in my mirrors and the Red Bulls were right behind me on brand new tyres so I was like ‘how the hell did that happen’.” he said.